Common Murre die-off has died down after 40K carcasses found this winter

Beth Verge, Reporter and Multimedia Journalist

POSTED: 05:20 PM AKDT Mar 19, 2016    UPDATED: 05:39 PM AKDT Mar 19, 2016 

For now, a crisis has been averted for the massive seabird die-off that concerned scientists this winter, according to officials with Anchorage's Bird Training and Learning Center.

"We were afraid that this was going to carry on through the spring," said Bird TLC Director of Operations Guy Runco, referring to the thousands of Common Murres found exhausted and starved hundreds of miles north of their natural habitat near the sea. 

"We didn't know when it would end, so when February came around and we stopped getting calls, we were very happy with that," he said.

U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologists told the Associated Press that an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 carcasses of the penguin-like bird had been counted last month on the shores of a southwest Alaska lake, contributing to the total count of nearly 40,000, which could actually be a fraction of the true number.

But, for the last month, Bird TLC has not received any calls regarding Common Murre carcass discoveries.

"It's not just Anchorage," Runco said. "We got birds sent to us from as far north as Fairbanks. We were finding them inland throughout Alaska, and now that's just not the case."

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'Fewer birds of prey poisoned'

The number of birds of prey illegally poisoned fell dramatically last year, a report has revealed.

The first annual report on wildlife crime in Scotland shows the number of confirmed poisonings of birds of prey fell from 16 in 2011 and 30 in 2009 to just three last year.

One golden eagle and two buzzards were found to have been poisoned during 2012 and over the past five years there have been a total of 94 confirmed poisonings of birds of prey.

But while there is a "encouraging decline" in poisoning cases, the report raised concerns that other forms of persecution could be increasing.

"The last few years have shown an encouraging decline in raptor poisoning numbers. It is too early to say yet whether this represents a genuine reduction in overall raptor persecution, or whether there has been a corresponding increase in other forms of persecution," the report stated.

While there was one case in the northern region where a golden eagle was poisoned last year, there was a case in Tayside where such a bird was trapped and another case in Dumfries and Galloway where a golden eagle was shot.

Conservation charity RSPB Scotland says it is concerned that some criminals may have changed tactics from illegal poisoning to trapping, shooting and destroying nests.

It is now calling for more resources to be put into tackling and preventing such crimes.

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